The case of Petrenko in Gorno-Altaisk

Case History

At the end of July 2022, the investigation opened a criminal case against Sergey Petrenko, a resident of Gorno-Altaisk. The materials were separated from the case against another believer, Aleksandr Kalistratov. In December 2022, the case went to trial and was then twice referred to new judges for retrial.

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    July 28, 2022 Case initiated

    The investigation opened a criminal case against Sergey Petrenko under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the basis of the case materials against another believer, Aleksandr Kalistratov.

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    December 2022 Case went to court

    Sergey Petrenko is charged, he is immediately acquainted with the materials of the case and it goes to the Maiminsky District Court of the Altai Republic. The case materials consist of 7 volumes. Volumes 2-6 are identical to the volumes of the Kalistratov case (they are copies).

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    December 7, 2022 Recognizance agreement

    The investigator takes Sergey Petrenko's recognizance not to leave.

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    January – March 2023 Hearing in a court of the first instance

    At the preliminary hearing, Judge Dmitry Gorbachev attaches motions to refuse a lawyer, to return the case to the prosecutor and to exclude evidence obtained in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

    The court does not allow the accused to refuse a lawyer, and also refuses to return the case to the prosecutor and recognize some of the evidence of the prosecution as inadmissible.

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    April – May 2023 Hearing in a court of the first instance Interrogation

    State prosecutor Paronov reads out the indictment. Sergey Petrenko expresses disagreement and does not admit his guilt. Judge Dmitry Gorbachev does not allow Petrenko to announce his attitude to the charges.

    The prosecutor summons five witnesses for questioning, two of whom do not confirm their written statements given during the preliminary investigation.

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    July 24, 2023 Retrial (court of first instance) Hearing in a court of the first instance

    In connection with the resignation of Judge Dmitry Gorbachev, the case is transferred to Artur Shatin for reconsideration.

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    September – October 2023 Retrial (court of first instance) Hearing in a court of the first instance Interrogation

    8 prosecution witnesses are interrogated, and their written testimony is read out from the case file. One of them says he does not know the defendant.

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    November 22, 2023 Retrial (court of first instance) Hearing in a court of the first instance

    About 20 people come to the courthouse, six are allowed into the courtroom.

    The prosecutor reads out the written evidence in the criminal case, reading out only the titles of the documents.

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    March 12, 2024 Retrial (court of first instance)

    In connection with the change of employment of Judge Artur Shatin, the case is transferred to Elena Usoltseva for reconsideration.